meme

This meme was created by over at More Than A Mum as a way of celebrating motherhood in the run up to Mother’s Day.

I have been tagged for this meme by the lovely Kate from Makeshift Mummy. The only person in the world I’ve ever had to tell that I don’t own a horse. Bless her :o)

Q1. Describe Motherhood in three words.

So. Much. Love.

Q2. Does your experience differ from your Mother’s – how?

I think this is the hardest question of them all for me to answer. In some ways I guess they’ve been similar as we’ve both been single mother’s. But we’ve both dealt with it very differently and I think we all try to learn from what we perceive to be our parents mistakes.

Q3. What’s the hardest thing about being a mum?

The fear.

The fear you feel when they are ill, or when you momentarily lose sight of them, is heart stopping.

There is also a constant battle between wanting to shower them with everything they ask for and knowing that you will teach them more about life and the differences between want and need by sometimes saying no.

Q4. What’s the best thing?

Kate’s answer “All of it” was so spot on. Sounds twee but every experience is amazing in it’s own way, even the bad times!

The pride you feel when your child does something of their own volition. When they suddenly smile at you. When they share without being asked. When they tell you they love you without any prompting. When they confide in you. When you share a moment because you both ‘get’ something and you realise how much you genuinely have in common. When they reach out to you for a cuddle or to hold your hand; just because they want to.

Q5. How has it changed you?

It made me find a selflessness that I didn’t know I had. I would do anything for my children. I would lay down my life in a moment to save either of them.

Q6. What do you hope for your children?

I hope they learn to be happy with themselves and not require external validation. I summed this up in one of my favourite ever posts, called My Legacy.

Q7. What do you fear for them?

Oh god, everything! I want to be able to protect them from every mistake I ever made even though I know it’s not possible.

Q8. What makes it all worthwhile?

They do. Seeing them smile. Seeing them be friends with each other. Watching them grow into their own personalities and make their own footprints on the world.

I won’t tag anyone else as Mother’s Day has passed – but it’s a nice meme to do so I would invite anyone who wants to do it to consider themselves tagged by me and to go for it!

Q&A About Me

Or Mrs Lister’s Q&A as it is otherwise known. I’ve been tagged in this meme by someone who is relatively new to me on twitter, the delightful @confessionsmum who gave her on answers here. Have to say I found some of it quite hard to answer!

Which living person do you most admire, and why?

Every solider. Every fireman. For their selfless bravery. The lady I pass each morning on the way to work who has a major facial disfigurement, she looks completely carefree and it humbles and shames me in equal measure.

When were you happiest?

I’ve had highs and lows in life but I am definitely at my happiest right now.

What was your most embarrassing moment?

That would be when I had coffee with my niece and asked her if she thought her Dad and his boyfriend would get married.

She put down her cup, looked me dead in the eye and said “Do you think my Dad’s gay then?”

I’d thought it was obvious to the whole darn world, but she truly had no idea…. #cringe

Tiny little book. I bought my copy in New York because I loved the rough unfinished edges on the pages. I didn’t know anything about it, just liked the feel of the thing. When I read it I was blown away by how much it affected me.

I bought Tuesdays With Morrie because I was so touched by The Five People You Meet In Heaven. It is another tiny little book which rips through your defences and leaves you blubbing – I read most pages with a running internal monologue of ‘I will not cry, I will not cry’ I failed miserably. I won’t let my OH read this book as I think it would destroy him. Funnily enough his boss said the same thing to him the other day.

The lovely, kind and generous Garry @himupnorth has awarded me the Blog of Substance Award. Now he did create a new rugged, manly badge for the this meme however being as I am a girl, I am sticking with the girly one as above!

THE RULES:

1) Give groveling gratitude filled thanks to the blogger who awarded you

2) Share your five word blogging philosophy

3) Nominate further bloggers of substance

Until this moment I hadn’t really considered that I had a ‘blogging philosophy’ however I shall now attempt to come up with one in just 5 words. This is difficult for me, I tend to prefer to use as many words as possible, but here goes:

WORDS FELL OUT MY HEAD

RANDOM THINGS THAT I THINK

HONESTY AND INTEGRITY RULE OK

TELL IT LIKE IT IS

You may have noticed that was just a smidge over 5 words…..but if I had to pick a lone 5, then I would pick the last 5 – TELL IT LIKE IT IS. Although to be fair I think the top one is probably more accurate ;o)

Now I need to pass the award onto others. I personally think that everyone who takes the time to sit write a blog deserves a Blog of Substance award, as such if I have ever visited and commented upon your blog, it’s fairly safe to say I think yours is a blog of substance. However, in order to play the game, some people for me to pass The Blog of Substance Award onto:

First and foremost was going to be @Metajugglamum but I see that Garry already tagged her (damn you Garry) so instead I move to:

I have been tagged by @kateab to answer the 10 question meme that is dun dun dun….

THE INQUISITOR!

Or, as Kate dubbed it – The Spanish Inquisition!

1. Which (in)famous person (alive or dead) would you like to take out to dinner, where would you go and what would you like to talk about?

Robert Webb. I’d like to go to a bar in Brighton called something like Etsa/Esca in Preston Street. Hmm just looked it up and it seems to now be called Oxygen Red so I’m not sure if it has the same atmos as the old place, assuming it does though we would go there. And we would talk about whatever he liked! Fingers crossed David Mitchell would swing by, swiftly followed by Russell Howard, Ed Bryne, Dara O’Brien and Punt & Denis!

2. What is the best gift someone could give you (tangible please)?

A house. …oh right, back in the real world huh.

3. Where in the world would you most like to live?

Being a contrary Mary:

I would like to live in NYC.

I would like to live somewhere peaceful and rural but within walking distance of a town.

I would like to live in Portugal.

I would like to live somewhere that is cool (but not cold) all year.

I do like living where I live now, I just hope they don’t develop it much more as it is starting to spoil it.

4. What do you most enjoy cooking?

I love cooking things I haven’t cooked before, I like the excitement of it. I find that it is only ever the first time that I follow the recipe carefully, after that I get complacent and the results vary! I can make a very good lasagne though.

5. What is your favourite novel?

The Five People You Meet In Heaven – I bought it in a NYC book shop purely because I liked the rough uncut feel of the way they finish their books over there. I didn’t expect much from it, it is a small book and it isn’t the type of thing I usually pick up. It tore through my soul.

6. You have your own personal Tardis, where do you go first?

I’m going to waste this answer. I would go back to a nightclub in 1995 where my ex husband asks me to dance and I would say “no, not if you were the last man on earth, now sod off you poor pathetic excuse for a human being” and then, just to be sure, I would stab him, and possibly arrange for cattle to stampede on him, and then I would hop back in the tardis and feed him to a dinosaur – a proper bitey one not one of those ones with silly little arms who must have been very frustrated.

7. How old is the inner you?

26, unlike the outer me which is 408

8. Theatre or Cinema?

I love seeing live comedy

9. Would you be famous, with all that means?

Some days yes, I’d embrace it and I would sparkle and shine. I’d enjoy parties and I would relish in mixing with the beautiful people.

Other days no, sod off and leave me alone.

10. You are able to learn anything at all, a skill, a language, whatever, what would it be and why?

The art of public speaking without blushing like I have just contracted a contagious and potentially deadly disease

I am very indecisive, sometimes, and looking back over these I can see a million (and prone to exaggeration) different answers that I could have given and that would be just as valid.

First, and foremost, in order to abide by the rules, I need to thank Jon for the honour that he has bestowed upon me. “Thank YOU Jon”

Now for the rules, I have ‘cut & paste’ these from Jon’s blog and am a little alarmed at the absence of points 3 & 6 – Jon?

So here are the rules for this one:

1. you have to thank the person that tagged you by tagging them back!

2. Use the picture in your post.

4. Tell everyone 5 things you did in your life that seemed like a good idea at the time!

5. Nominate 7 other people to do the same and link to there blogs.

7. Let the people you have nominated know.

And so, my 5 things that Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time:

1. In a nightclub, guy comes up and asks me to dance. So I ask a friend to hold my drink and I say yes…. reason this was a mistake? See A is for…

2. At school, age 15, my boyfriend was 23 (should stop that one there really!) he used to drop me off at school in his white porsche and kiss me goodbye in the school car park. CRINGE.

3. I once let someone go that I probably shouldn’t have. Trouble with that is that they chose to go so I guess keeping them would have been kidnap?

4. In the car park where I park for work, the concrete posts are in a ridiculous position for anyone who is unfortunate enough to have to park a car in there…you have to swing round REALLY close to the post. Anyway, will let the picture below do the talking on this one – needless to say the car on the right is mine…

5. Hmmm, number 5. I’m really stuck on 5. Don’t get me wrong – have done loads of stupid things – maybe, no, what about, oh no, erm – ok, I once went out with a guy who was a trainee accountant, but, told me he was also in the SAS… and I believed him. Yes, yes, as it turns out he was married.

And so, to tag 7 others, groan 7? really? do you know how much gin I’ve drunk?

Damn and tarnation, I have been tagged by @himupnorth to do a photo version of the 7 things meme. Actually, sorry – the rules say you have to THANK the person who passes the Kreativ Blogger award on to you, so, ahem, thank you@himupnorthfor passing this to me… To try do this justice, I am for once going to attempt to use as few words as possible and let the images do the talking….Picture 1.

I was quite a cute baby…

Picture 2.

But my mum was cuter!

Picture 3.

I have 2 boys. My DH has 2 boys. The picture below is from a day out at Bewilderwood in Norfolk – we built the den that they are sitting in. And yes, I may have buggered about with the pic in photoshop just a little!

I have lots of amazing pics from New York, and couldn’t decide which was the most iconic – the Empire State? The Algonquin cat? Central Park? The Chrysler building? The Statue of Liberty? In the end I settled on something that surprised me – a black squirrel!